PlentyofFish in the online dating sea, but he’s a big fish in a big pond

PAUL LUKE, The Province03.14.2014

Markus Frind, founder and CEO of PlentyOfFish, the world's largest Internet dating site which is based in Vancouver. In the background is newlywed couple Katy Severs and Mark Gomes, who met on POF five years ago.Jenelle Schneider
/ PROVINCE

Markus Frind, founder and CEO of Vancouver-based PlentyofFish, the world’s largest Internet dating site, poses with newlywed couple Katy Severs and Mark Gomes, who met on the site five years ago. — JENELLE SCHNEIDER/PNGJenelle Schneider
/ PROVINCE

Newlywed couple Katy Severs and Mark Gomes met on POF five years ago and recently tied the knot in France. January 24, 2014.Jenelle Schneider
/ PROVINCE

Newlywed couple Katy Severs and Mark Gomes met on POF five years ago and recently tied the knot in France.Jenelle Schneider
/ PROVINCE

Markus Frind, founder and CEO of PlentyOfFish, the world's largest internet dating site which is based in Vancouver.Jenelle Schneider
/ PROVINCE

PlentyofFish has a terrific track record when it comes to getting grandparents off one’s back. More than 3.5 million people log into the site every day, many of them visiting several times.

Rivals such as Match.com may have more revenue, but POF’s more than 70 million registered users make it the world’s largest online dating service.

The 11-year-old company estimates one million relationships a year begin on its website.

Its amorous constituency has grown well beyond ­Canada. From its Vancouver headquarters, the company provides dating services in five ­languages.

Its biggest market is the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Australia.

Europe, with the exception of the U.K., is two to three years behind North America in accepting Internet dating services, says Frind, who was born in Donauwörth, Germany.

As PlentyofFish’s reach grows, the company has discovered distinct cultural approaches to courtship.

“People in the United Kingdom will wear turtlenecks in the photos they send,” he says. “Women are way more aggressive in Brazil. They initiate as much as men.”

VANCOUVERITES LOVE ONLINE

The company also sees ­differences in its own backyard. Vancouverites in their early to mid-30s gravitate more toward online dating than do counterparts in cities such as New York, Toronto or Los Angeles.

Frind says people in their 20s are a bigger presence in Vancouver’s nightclub scene than in other cities, prompting older singles to go online in their quest for company.

A HOBBY TURNED PASSION

PlentyofFish was born in 2003 when Frind, a graduate of B.C. Institute of Technology’s computer systems technology program, wanted to learn a new programming language.

Frind, who was then working for a Vancouver-based dot-com, created PlentyofFish in his spare time.

“A dating site was the hardest way I could think of at the time to learn a new language,” he says. “In the first month, I made a thousand dollars and from then on I was convinced I should make this thing work.”

He ran the company by himself from a spare bedroom of his apartment for five years until it reached $10 million in annual revenue.

“There were 15 million users and no employees,” he says. “It started to get a little crazy.”

Today, he employs about 75 people in a 10,000-square-foot office dominated by big-screen monitors flashing real-time data on user log-ins, profiles and emails per second.

He won’t disclose how much revenue his private company makes but answers “of course” when asked if it makes money.

“We’ve never had a loss of any kind,” he says. “Not even close to it.”

PlentyofFish built its reputation on an advanced matching system and personalized relationship tests for members. As a pioneering free dating service, it makes most of its money from advertising. But Frind ensures the company is constantly evolving.

As the dating industry consolidates, Frind has put aside $30 million for acquisitions. In September, PlentyofFish bought FastLife, a company that hosts speed dating and singles events in Canada, Australia and the U.S.

LOOKING FOR THE FAIRY-TALE ENDING

Those hoping for a fairy tale about how Frind met his own partner through PlentyofFish will be disappointed. In reality, they met at a dot-com where both were employed before he started his company.

“Everyone wants one of those (fairy tales). Maybe I should just make one up,” he says.

Katy Severs and Mark Gomes don’t have to make one up. The Vancouver couple — she’s a junior mining marketing manager, he’s a West Side realtor — met through PlentyofFish just over five years ago.

They spoke online for about a month before going on their first date in January 2009. By that time they already had a pretty good sense they had potential for a long-term bond.

Severs, 33, and Gomes, 38, married last July.

“One of the things that really resonated with me was that he said in his profile that he was looking for his best friend,” Severs says.

“I thought that was wonderful.”

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PlentyofFish in the online dating sea, but he’s a big fish in a big pond

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